Fiji Government to pay for dialysis treatments

Dialysis patients in Fiji will be able to receive life saving treatment free of charge, with the government to pay for treatment.

The Kidney Foundation of Fiji has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Ministry of Health paying for dialysis patients treatment for three months.

President of the Kidney Foundation of Fiji, Dewan Chand Maharaj, has told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat their are 48 patients currently on dialysis in Fiji.

"About 16 per cent of the population are diabetic, and out of that...8 per cent should go on dialysis straight away," he said.

"You're looking at a couple of thousand."

Mr Maharaj says previously around 95 per cent of those who required dialysis in Fiji would die.

He says the government is hoping paying for the treatment may give people time or the opportunity to arrange for a kidney transplant.

"Straight away they will start working on it a donor, to see if they can get a donor, and fly them out of the country - most likely to India - and get the transplant done and come back," he said.

"The 21 to 30 year olds - their the easiest to get the transplants done. If you're 40 to 50, you have a 50-50 chance to get a transplant, and 50-70 we suggest not to get a transplant, because most of those transplants don't work."

Fiji's Government says it also hopes for some patients the three-month treatment will actually lead to a cure, without the need for a transplant.